Photo Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
LeBron James’ Former Teammate Says Derrick Rose Should’ve Never Won MVP In 2011
Revisiting one of the most controversial MVP races—the 2011 NBA MVP race, where Derrick Rose won the league’s MVP over LeBron James. To this date, many NBA fans still believe Rose shouldn’t have won. LeBron’s former highschool teammate and childhood friend, Romeo Travis, feels the same sentiment.
Romeo Travis poised his dispute towards the 2011 NBA MVP by quoting a highlight video of Rose on his Twitter account.
He should’ve never won ♂️♂️ https://t.co/kbnbcb53vz
— Romeo Travis (@RomeTrav) March 20, 2020
In 2011, Derrick Rose became the youngest NBA player to ever be crowned MVP, garnering 113 of 120 first-place votes. LeBron, on the other hand, finished 3rd place in the rankings with only 4 first-place votes.
In comparison of the two, LeBron averaged 26.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7 assists per game on 51% shooting with the Heat while Rose averaged 25 points, 4.1 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game on 44.5% shooting with the Bulls.
Everything goes without saying that LeBron was better in the stat book, maintaining his usual MVP numbers. He also led the Miami Heat to 58 wins—2nd seed in the East behind the Chicago Bulls that won 62 games. Fans believe LeBron suffered from voter’s fatigue and it was the sole reason that allowed Rose to come up and win the MVP award over LeBron who won back-to-back MVP awards prior to the season.
Even so, Derrick Rose wasn’t slouch at all, he was the focal point of their team’s offense and led his team in both points and assists. It’s also worth noting that Rose was the best player on the best team in the NBA. He put up an MVP-worthy performance and the voters primarily recognized that.
The two players, later on, met in the Eastern Conference Finals with LeBron James and the Miami Heat prevailing in 5 games over Derrick Rose’ Chicago Bulls. Rose may have won the MVP battle but LeBron James won the war. Almost a decade later, LeBron James has continued his MVP pace with the Los Angeles Lakers, and Derrick Rose, despite suffering from multiple injuries, has found resurgence and is now putting up numbers with the Detroit Pistons.
